Blood Wedding

So, my high school staged "Blood Wedding" by Frederico Garcia Lorca for competition last week. I saw the play and was mesmerized. I thought to myself, "When I become a big famous choreographer, I'm gonna use the play as a libretto for a ballet."

Lo and behold, I'm too late.

My question is: Has anyone actually seen it? Whether it be the Sadler Well's version (I think they were the ones who originally did it) or ABT or whomever. I was wondering if it maybe lived up to the play itself.

That and if there's maybe a copy of the ballet on VHS or something...?

You can rent the Antonio Gades/Carlos Saura film (the the fabulous Christina Hoyos) on video -- it's obviously been restaged to work as a film (including setting the dance as a rehearsal) but it's a gorgeous piece of work.

The Cubans did the Gades version when they were here in New York a few months ago, and I thought it was one of the most thrilling and moving pieces I have seen--right up there in mood with Nijinska's Les Noces. If you ever get a chance to see them dance it, I would grab it! It was so perfectly translated into movement, without any of the "words into dance" feeling that some dances from litererary sources have.

Wasn't there a MacMillan ballet based on Blood Wedding - called "Three sisters", maybe????????? If there is such a ballet and I'm not making it up, then that might be what Iceydeville was referring to.

GWTW, I'd guess you're thinking of MacMillan's Las Hermanas (The Sisters), which is based on The House of Bernarda Alba. The Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet's Blood Wedding was by Alfred Rodrigues - I saw it several times, years ago, and I seem to remember David Howard being in it, as the Moon.